My Bluesky profile includes a quote from a poem (probably) by St Teresa of Ávila which I discovered a few years ago. One of the stanzas goes: With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all; but You know, Lord, that I want a few friends at the end.… Continue reading Weeknote 11: on being in love with the sound of your own advice
Weeknote 10: 6 months in
This week was the start of month 6 as Head of UCD in Digital Screening in NHS England. Here are some things I am thinking about: The NHS is not one place, it’s a network of businesses and trusts held together by a common understanding of risk. The closest I ever came to this was… Continue reading Weeknote 10: 6 months in
Weeknote 9: on drawing dragons
Design is one of the most authoritarian and annoying practices that modernity has created. – Antonio Caronia in ‘What Design Can’t Do’ by Silvio Lorusso Had a big week at work last week. It was overwhelming to see how much press our work on HPV self-testing at home got. My comms colleagues are geniuses really.… Continue reading Weeknote 9: on drawing dragons
Sunday Scraps #125
It’s felt like a long week for some reason. Maybe it’s the lunar eclipse, maybe it’s the end of a long oppressively hot summer. In any case I’m delighted to have a few days to reset under the rain. Dolly Parton’s song was inspired by 9to5, a 1970s feminist movement in Boston / I generally… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #125
Sunday Scraps #124
Wrote most of this in YUL airport in anticipation of the horrible jetlag I’m suffering from. Past me was smart. I don’t really know how I feel about comparing how the Victorians lived to our own predicament. Consumer products are such a poor metric for societal progress. / A growing number of friends have been… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #124
Weeknote 8: what it means to be a designer in the NHS
I’m on holiday so I shouldn’t really be writing a weeknote but I’m getting lots of designers reaching out to me on Linkedin who have never worked in the NHS, wanting to work there. This is my personal view and not my employer’s. Being a designer in the public sector might not mean a public… Continue reading Weeknote 8: what it means to be a designer in the NHS
Sunday Scraps #123
Walking through the RA Summer Exhibition is like walking through a souq, it rewards patience as eventually you find some gems. Here are the pieces I loved most. I’ve lived around Brixton since 2009 but I’m still discovering things as I walk the streets. The history behind this old radio… Continue reading Sunday Scraps #123
Weeknote 7: design truisms
I was in the first day of a two day away day at work and I was thinking of Jenny Holtzer’s truisms. They feel true (even if they might not be), which is what’s so cool about them. I think it’s the same for some myths about the NHS and what it is and isn’t… Continue reading Weeknote 7: design truisms
Weeknote 6: is it really that complicated?
There’s a new tech leader in the NHS which means whatever he thinks about design, UCD or designers will probably trickle down at some point. I am listening closely to the signs and this week, he said that things were not as a complicated as he was expecting. I thought that was interesting because it… Continue reading Weeknote 6: is it really that complicated?
Weeknote 5: on singing behind the beat
I had two classic ‘behind the beat‘ moments this week. The first involved taking the reigns in relation to a runaway situation. The second involved seeing something happen and letting it happen (temporarily). My two Deputy Directors were on leave at the same time for a few days so that temporarily exposed me and other… Continue reading Weeknote 5: on singing behind the beat